Overview
Navi Dhillon is a partner and Co-Chair of the Environmental Litigation Practice. He is also Co-Chair of the firm's San Francisco office.
Recognized as one of the leading lawyers in the United States, Mr. Dhillon serves as a trusted advisor to diverse clients ranging from public companies and private investment funds (private equity, hedge funds) to infrastructure, renewable energy, natural resources, project development, and technology companies. According to Chambers USA, clients praise Mr. Dhillon for “uniquely combin[ing] the highest levels of business judgment with an encyclopedic knowledge of the law.” He has served as lead counsel in matters with an aggregate amount at stake in excess of $20 billion, and in 2022 was named by the National Law Journal as a “Trailblazer” for his accomplishments.
As lead counsel, Mr. Dhillon has litigated dozens of cases to judgment in high-stakes matters involving a range of sensitive business concerns. Outside the courtroom, Navi is a highly-skilled negotiator and regularly handles complex negotiations with local, state, and federal agencies, as well as private transactions for clients seeking to create and expand business opportunities in emerging areas.
Mr. Dhillon is a go-to lawyer for clients in need of difficult regulatory approvals for large-scale development projects. His experience includes utility-scale renewable energy, master planned communities, surface mining, timber harvesting, utility-scale desalination, and other major infrastructure projects around the globe.
Recognitions
- Chambers USA, 2024
- Legal 500, Regulatory, 2024
- Legal 500, Litigation, 2024
- “Trailblazer,” The National Law Journal, 2022
- Lawdragon 500, 2022
- “Top 40 Under 40,” The Daily Journal, 2020
- “Rising Star,” Law 360, 2017
Education
- University of California, J.D., magna cum laude
- University of San Francisco, B.A., cum laude
Representations
- Defend cryptocurrency exchange in $100 million dispute related to contract and corporate governance dispute.
- Defend public company in mass tort action involving more than 50 individual lawsuits and 19,000 named plaintiffs related to alleged injuries from an environmental event.
- Advise client in the development of the world’s largest battery-energy storage system (BESS).
- Defend public company in class action concerning Automatic Renewal Laws.
- Represent developer in connection with new, net-zero sustainable town.
- Represent federally recognized Indian tribe in high-profile litigation concerning proposed casino development and challenge to validity of the California Governor’s concurrence for the project.
- Defend public company in $17 million government enforcement action for alleged violations of federal and state laws concerning alleged water pollution.
- Represent aerospace company in connection with hostile takeover of entity supplying critical parts for airplane manufacturing.
- Defend renewable companies in lawsuits challenging a 3,500 MW solar projects.
- Defend timber company in multiple lawsuits under the Endangered Species Act.
- Represent hedge fund (largest institutional investor) in Delaware appraisal litigation involving $15 billion go-private transaction.
- Represent Canadian supplier in connection with North American contract negotiations involving mass-timber supply contracts for new, sustainable corporate campuses (e.g., Google, Microsoft).
- Defend one of the largest landowners in the United States in connection with Timber Harvest Plan disputes.
- Advise client in connection with development of 800-MW renewable energy project with associated battery storage.
- Defend municipality in lawsuit involving development of casino and claim for more than $750 million in damages.
- Defend client in lawsuit challenging development of utility-scale desalination facility.
- Defend leading natural resources company in lawsuit alleging timber-harvesting activities across more than 300,000 acres will result in unlawful take.
- Represent two hedge funds in plaintiff-side fraud suit in the Southern District of New York against Greek shipping company.
- Advise developer in securing critical regulatory approvals for state-of-the-art marina near Stanford University and entitlements for new hotel on the San Francisco Bay.
- Represent county and landowner in connection with public nuisance and air pollution lawsuits involving a 900-acre rock quarry located in Napa County.
- Represent developer in multiple land use lawsuits against the City of Berkeley involving takings challenges to monetary exactions.
- Represent client in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the United States Department of the Interior that resulted in termination of a federal rulemaking process.
- Defend global wine companies in tort and contract lawsuit involving California vineyard and cutting-edge viticulture practices.
- Advise client in connection with development and defense of regulatory program for “commuter shuttle buses” to facilitate sustainable transportation of technology employees located in San Francisco Bay Area.
- Represent water district with nearly 2,000 miles of pipelines in connection with Clean Water Act lawsuit in Southern California.
- Represent developer in connection with preliminary injunction proceedings in federal and state court initiated by environmental groups seeking to block construction of utility-scale solar project.
- Represent leading rooftop solar energy companies in lawsuit challenging decision of Nevada Public Utilities Commission to curb “net metering” program.
- Represent more than 30 companies, including industry-leading cosmetics brands, in Proposition 65 involving titanium dioxide (airborne, unbound particles of respirable size).
- Represent organization in multiple mandamus lawsuits seeking to block construction at the historic Sharp Park Golf Course.
- Represent developer in its California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) lawsuit brought by environmental groups to block construction of a 247-MW solar photovoltaic facility.
- Represent organization in its lawsuit against National Park Service for approving a large-scale project without first complying with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act.
Engagement & Publications
- Speaker, Silicon Valley General Counsel Association’s All Hands Meeting
- Speaker, California Forestry Association’s Forestry Strategies and Innovations Conference
- Speaker, California Boating Congress
Involvement
- Member, Bar Association of San Francisco
- Member, McFetridge American Inn of Court
- Lecturer, San Francisco State University
- Coach, high school mock trial
- Law Clerk, Honorable John E. Munter, San Francisco Superior Court's Complex Civil Litigation Department
- Judicial Extern, Honorable Charles R. Breyer, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
- Law Clerk, Civil Division, United States Attorney's Office in San Francisco